1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to humanized, chimeric and human anti-granulocyte antibodies, particularly monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), therapeutic and diagnostic conjugates of humanized, chimeric and human anti-granulocyte antibodies and methods of diagnosing or treating a malignancy, inflammation, atherosclerosis, infarction or other diseases manifesting an increased presence of activated granulocytes, using humanized, chimeric and fully human anti-granulocyte antibodies. Preferred anti-granulocyte antibodies are those binding the NCA90 and NCA95 antigens, such as the MN3 monoclonal antibody against NCA90, the Mabs MN-2, MN-15, NP-1, NP-2, BW 250/183 against NCA95, Mab 47, and antibodies directed to antigens present on a single granulocyte precursor, such as anti-CD-15 and anti-CD-33, or a combination thereof. The present invention also relates to antibody fusion proteins or fragments thereof comprising at least two anti-granulocyte MAbs or fragments thereof or at least one anti-granulocyte MAb or fragment thereof and at least one second MAb or fragment thereof, other than the anti-granulocyte MAb or fragment thereof. The humanized, chimeric and human anti-granulocyte MAbs, fragments thereof, antibody fusion proteins thereof or fragments thereof may be administered alone, as a therapeutic conjugate or in combination with a therapeutic immunoconjugate, with other naked antibodies, or with therapeutic agents or as a diagnostic conjugate. The present invention further relates to DNA sequences encoding humanized, chimeric and human MN3 antibodies against NCA 90, and antibody fusion proteins, vectors and host cells containing the DNA sequences, and methods of making the humanized, chimeric and human MN3 antibodies.
The invention relates to immunological reagents for therapeutic use, for example, in radioimmunotherapy (RAIT) and chemoimmunotherapy, and detection and/or diagnostic uses, for example, in radioimmunodetection (RAID), ultrasonography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In particular, the invention relates to naked antibodies (unconjugated) and directly-conjugated antibodies, as well as bi-specific antibodies (bsAbs) and bi-specific antibody fragments (bsFabs) which have at least one arm which is reactive against a targeted tissue and at least one other arm which is reactive against a linker moiety. Further, the invention relates to monoclonal antibodies that have been raised against specific immunogens, being human, humanized and chimeric monoclonal antibodies, as well as human, humanized and chimeric bi-specific antibodies and antibody fragments having at least one arm which is reactive against a targeted tissue or cell type and at least one other arm which is reactive against a linker moiety, DNAs that encode such antibodies and antibody fragments, and vectors for expressing the DNAs.
2. Background
Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have wide diagnostic and therapeutic potentials in clinical practices against cancer and other diseases. Early clinical trials revealed encouraging results using radiolabled MAbs for the diagnosis/detection (radioimmunodetection: RAID) and treatment (radioimmunotherapy: RAIT) of malignancies in cancer patients (Goldenberg et al., (1993) (Intl. J. Oncol. 3:5-11; Goldenberg et al., (1995) Immunol. Today 16:261-264; Goldenberg (1993) Am. J. Med. 94:297-312; Goldenberg (1991) Adv. Exp. Med. Biol., 303:107-117). Monoclonal antibodies play a central role in cancer immunotherapy, either in naked forms, or as conjugates to cytotoxic agents, such as radioisotopes, drugs, toxins, or prodrug-converting enzymes (Goldenberg et al., (1993) Immunol. Today, 14:5-7). These approaches are under active evaluation, with different levels of developmental and clinical successes. Naked MAbs potentially may achieve clinical responses by inducing a cytotoxic effect upon binding to cell surface proteins that are over-expressed on cancer cells. Studies have shown that these therapeutic effects were accomplished by controlling tumor growth via programmed cell death (apoptosis), or by the induction of anti-tumor immune responses (Cragg et al., (1999) Curr. Opin. Immunol., 11:541-547).
The majority of clinically interesting antibodies were raised in mice. The problem of immunogenicity of murine MAbs in humans has been the major obstacle preventing their clinical application, especially in cancer therapy where large doses and repeated administrations are required to achieve maximum efficacy. It has been demonstrated that significant human-anti-mouse antibody (HAMA) responses were detected in approximately 50% of patients after a single injection of murine MAb; greater than 90% of patients developed HAMA following two or three repeated injections (Sears et al., (1984) J. Biol. Response Med. 3:138-150; Reynolds et al., (1989) Int. J. Rad. Appl. Instrum. B, 16:121-125; Shawler et al. (1985) J. Immunol., 135:1530-1535; Jaffers et al., (1986) Transplantation, 41:572-578). In addition, the therapeutic effects of these murine MAbs in humans, if any, are further mitigated with their short serum half-lives and inabilities to recruit human effector cells, such as complement-fixing cytotoxic T cells. With the advent of molecular engineering, we can now genetically modify the structure of an antibody without affecting its antigen specificity to minimize or eliminate the HAMA responses and simultaneously enhance its immune effector functions. The processes are called chimerization and humanization. These modified MAbs have been shown to possess attributes essential for enhanced clinical utility, i.e., decreased immunogenicities, longer serum half-lives in human, and the ability to recruit effector functions.
Granulocytes, including neutrophils, basophils and eosinophils, are white blood cells that help mediate the humoral immune response. Granulocytes play an important role in defense of the host organism by migrating to sites of infection or injury and initiating phagocytosis and production of inflammatory mediators. One consequence of this activity is acute inflammation that can cause damage to the surrounding tissue. Abnormal granulocytes production, proliferation and/or dedifferentiation can also result in myeloid leukemia.
Inflammation has also been implicated as a major contributing factor in cystic fibrosis. See Konstan, M. W. et al., Infection and Inflammation in the Lung in Cystic Fibrosis, in Cystic Fibrosis, Davis, P. B. (ed.), Marcel Dekker, Inc., NY (1993). The inflammatory response to this infection is excessive and persistent. It sets the stage for a vicious cycle of airway obstruction, infection, and inflammation that ultimately leads to lung destruction. See Davis, P. B. et al. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 154:1229-1256 (1996) and Konstan, M. W. et al., Pediatr. Pulmonol. 24:137-142 (1997). The inflammatory component of CF is characterized by persistent infiltration of neutrophils, which includes times of clinical stability. See Konstan, M. W. et al., Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 150:448-454 (1994). This occurs very early in the course of the disease for many patients, frequently during the first year of life, and may exist even in the absence of apparent infection. See Konstan, M. W. et al., Pediatr. Pulmonol. 24:137-142 (1997). Further, in acute myocardial infarction, particularly resulting from compromised blood flow (ischemia because of vessel compromise), insipidation of granulocytes into the diseased myocardium results and plays a prominent role in the tissue damage and infarction resulting from ischemia of the myocardium. In this situation, it has now been discovered that an antibody targeting such activated granuloctyes not only can assist in the diagnosis of extent of ischemic disease, but can in fact interrupt the progression of infarction and tissue necrosis by binding to the pathology-inducing, activated granulocytes.
Accordingly, there remains a need for imaging granulocyte populations and their localization to determine sites of inflammation. There also remains a need for effective therapies of granulocyte disorders like myeloid leukemias, as well as preventing progression of myocardial infarction following myocardial ischemia.